Discovers a gorgeous slice of Northern Irish coastline, where butterflies and beetles live alongside wildflowers, waders and sunbathing seals

ituated 3.5 miles north-east of the coastal town of Newcastle in County Down, Murlough National Nature Reserve is a wildlifewatchers’ dream. Its range of habitats play host to a vast diversity of flora and fauna, and the long, sandy beach is the focal point of a fantastic walk, overlooked by the iconic Mourne Mountains.

SHAPE-SHIFTING LAND

Murlough was the first National Nature Reserve to be designated in Northern Ireland and has been cared for by the National Trust since 1967. It is home to a fragile 6,000-year-old dune system, and it is thought that human history here extends some 4,000 years with evidence of occupation from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.

Today, Murlough – which derives from the Irish ‘Murlach’, meaning ‘sea inlet’ – is a landscape shifted and shaped by the wind and waves that whip across the natural enclave of Dundrum Bay.

COASTAL CREATURES

Habitats at Murlough include species-rich grassland, woodland, coastline and dune heath, an element that is rare across Europe. The dunes themselves climb high above the beach and are only dwarfed by the majestic Mourne Mountains that rise to the south, their gorgeous outline dominating the surrounding landscape.

Unsurprisingly, the range of wildlife to be found at Murlough

Murlough is home to both common seals, pictured, and grey seals is spectacular. Rabbits were introduced here during the

12th century and today the population plays an important role in preserving the dune structure. Wildfowl and waders, common and grey seals, 23 species of butterflies

(the reserve is one of the last strongholds of the endangered marsh fritillary), over 250 types of beetle and even the pygmy shrew – the smallest mammal found in Britain – can all be found within the reserve. It truly is an incredible place, and one best explored with this easy circular walk.

FLOWERS IN THE SAND

The walk starts at the large Murlough National Nature Reserve car park that sits on the north side of the A2, a few minutes’ drive from Newcastle. Carefully cross the road into Murlough National Nature Reserve to join a track that immediately splits.

Keep right on to a lane then pass through a gate and follow a boardwalk south-east towards Dundrum Bay, backed by the enormous dune system that rises some 20m in height.

The boardwalk veers right and drops down to a fork. Go left through grassland; in spring and summer there are lots of wildflowers here, including marram grass,